


Midnight Marauders

by FrustratedPoet1979



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Female James Potter, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), POV Sirius Black
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 20:56:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17874719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrustratedPoet1979/pseuds/FrustratedPoet1979
Summary: A short-ish story capturing moments of time when the Marauders were at school, looking through Sirius’ eyes. Would their story be any different if James was Jamie?





	Midnight Marauders

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya. Thanks for reading this little thing I wrote, exploring an idea I had that wouldn’t leave me alone. There might be a second part to this I haven’t decided. This fic is for my wonderful friends who all are insanely talented in their own individual ways and I love them all. Thanks as always and forever to my Beta alrightginger.

Midnight Marauders

  
  


“Gryffindor!”

The word seemed to hang in the air for a prolonged amount of time, such was the complete silence that followed. Sirius didn’t dare look at the Slytherins, or to his new housemates. He was frozen. Stunned. That tiny glimmer of hope he had created and grown on the train ride here had been found by the sorting hat, and pronounced to the school.

The majority of the other first years didn’t seem to understand the significance of a Black becoming a Gryffindor. How could anyone truly know, even himself? Then out of the crowd of those still to be sorted he heard a voice start to whoop and cheer. Sirius looked over to who it was. It was the same girl he had sat with on the train. The same girl who had given him that spark of hope, that thought that perhaps there was a different path. She was grinning at him, wisps of dark hair that had escaped her plait framing her face. Her smile gave him the confidence to stand tall with his back straight and turn to the red and gold table. As soon as he faced them the whole table erupted into equally exuberant cheers of welcome. He tried his best to keep his face calm and sit down quietly where he received several back slaps.

With more confidence than he was truly feeling inside he looked over to his cousins, all of them sitting at the table furthest away from him now, Slytherin. He was sure the owls would be flying tonight, the way they were all muttering and staring over at him. Not that he would ever admit outside his own head, a sliver of fear crossed him at the thought of what was about to happen at his family home. He reached for a goblet to try and calm himself, but was disappointed to find it empty.

“Not till after the heads speech,” an older Gryffindor told him sympathetically. He put the goblet back down, trying to look like he was waiting patiently and with interest as the rest of his year was sorted.

While Sirius had been going through his own private dilemmas, the sorting ceremony had been continuing without any more controversy and he was no longer the only first year sitting on the Gryffindor table.

“Hi, I’m Lily,” a red headed girl with bright green eyes told him when he looked at her. Her smile was infectious and he found himself smiling back.

“Sirius,” he replied shortly.

“Is that a usual name for a wizard? This is all so new to me, and I’m not sure how I’ll ever fit in.” Sirius stared back at her without saying anything. It was obvious this girl was muggle born, and it was the first time ever in his life he had met one. He had never believed the horrendous things his family spouted about them -  not really anyway - but still, it would be something to get used to.

“It’s not that common, no,” he managed to reply. Thankfully he was saved from trying to make any more conversation by another arrival, another girl, who started chatting away with Lily like they were old friends. Slowly, the crowd of first years waiting to be sorted grew less, a few more first years joining their ranks.

“Jamelia Potter,” McGonagall proclaimed, and now the girl who had cheered for him, the girl he had sat with on the train, was sitting on the stool in front of the whole school.

The hat barely touched her head when it shouted out — Gryffindor! — once more. She bounded over to the table with such confidence Sirius wished he could emulate, and sat herself down beside him, pushing against his hip with her own to make space.

‘Jameia?” He asked her with a raised eyebrow, she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Please never call me that, everyone has always called me Jamie.” Sirius shrugged, accepting it as she quickly introduced herself to the rest of the first years.

“I’m so proud of you!” she stated to him, beaming at everyone at the table. “Sticking it to your family like that was incredible. All the Slytherins are a bunch of inbred tossers anyway.”

“Excuse me. My friend just got sorted into Slytherin,” the red headed muggle born Lily spoke up.

“Well you can probably say goodbye to that friendship. Besides you’re better off here, that lot are bad news,” Jamie stated as if it was a fact.

“They aren’t all bad,” Sirius said quietly, glancing over to one of his cousins who was looking over at him with guarded pride, rather than outrage. Jamie shrugged and accepted his comment without further argument.

“I’ll take your word for it. No offence to you, Lily, but historically Gryffindors and Slytherins don’t get on.” Although she had mentioned her by name, Lily didn’t turn around again. Instead, she continued to chat away with the blonde girl sitting next to her. Jamie looked a little offended by this, but then seemed to change her mind and just shrugged. “Girls confuse me so much,” she told the rest of them,

A smaller blonde boy with watery eyes looked at her, puzzled. “But you’re a girl?”

“Excellent observation skills,” She told him with a wink before looking around. “Now where’s this grub? I’m starving.”

 

~~

 

The first time it happened, they were sitting at dinner two weeks into their time at Hogwarts. Sirius was just finding out how amazing it was to have real friends, how cool Jamie Potter was. How much fun the four of them had, and how much trouble they could get into. Most of which they seemed to slide out of so easily, that Sirius started to believe the four of them were capable of anything.

Very quickly Sirius and the other two boys he shared a room with had clicked with Jamie, who didn’t seem to get on so well with the other girls. She was more obsessed about Quidditch than anyone he had ever met, with a nervous energy that seemed to stop her from ever sitting still. She was loud, she was funny, she was the one person Sirius wanted to spend time with more than any other. Most of the time Sirius even forgot that she was a girl. He was pretty sure she didn’t think like other girls.

 

The four of them were in their usual spot at the end of the Gryffindor table, furthest away from the teachers, when Professor McGonagall stood up from her position at the raised table. Brushing her robes smartly, she marched the length of the Gryffindor table, her eyes fixed in on one of them in particular.

The look on her face made Sirius’ hackles rise, she never looked so grimly determined unless she was about to do something she wasn’t happy about. But they’d only been at school a month, and they didn’t know that look. Not yet. All Sirius saw was the hand dropping onto Remus’ shoulder, a look of confusion on Jamie’s face who was sitting beside him, and a calm acceptance come over their friend. As if he had been expecting it.

Of course Jamie went to protest, to ask for an explanation. Sirius wasn’t far behind until he saw the look on Remus’ face as he turned to each of them. It screamed please don’t make a fuss or a scene. So they nodded and watched their friend walk out.

Remus didn’t sleep in their dorm that night.

Or the next night.

Sirius didn’t sleep either.

 

~~

 

“No way! Absolutely no way in hell you can do this, Jamie!” Remus’ voice was quiet in the library, but the tone, along with his earnest glare, was as loud as a shout.

“It’s not your decision, besides the first stages are done.” Jamie’s reply was as calm as Remus’ was heated.

“I appreciate you guys doing this for me, honestly I do, but becoming animagi? It’s dangerous for starters and highly regulated…”

“We shouldn’t have told him until it was all done.” Sirius decided it was time for him to join in the conversation, or at least end it. “It’s done, all that’s left to do is the final process when we discover our inner selves.”

“Yup,” said Jamie with her signature wink. “We’re only telling you so you can come and watch, and be another person to look out for a lightning storm.”

“You’ve managed all this? Without my knowledge?” His tone was more impressed than irritated now.

“Listen Remus.” Jamie leaned against Sirius placing an arm around his shoulder as she often did when she was feeling particularly proud of herself. Sirius did his best to match her confident look. “You may think you are the brains of us, and sometimes perhaps you are, but when we are motivated to a task there is nothing that will stop our band of merry men.”

“Not all men,” Peter piped up.

“Not all merry,” Sirius continued.

“Okay, so the name’s still a work in progress but we need something good.”

 

~~

 

Sirius had become very good at healing spells. He had to learn them fast that first summer home. The wealth of magical books in his parents library had given him a head start on most lessons before he’d even started school. Many of the books in his parents library were not anything a child should see, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to know.

It had always been noted how incredible his skill at picking up a spell was when he was properly motivated, and not wanting anyone to ask awkward questions was the biggest motivation he had. Combined with keeping Remus safe, especially once they discovered his secret.

Healing scrapes and bruises was relatively easy. Nothing was ever obvious on the outside. The wounds on the inside, however, there were no healing spells for them. But having friends, feeling accepted amongst them, was as powerful as any medicine.

His skills only grew as they progressed through school. They’d had to.

There were a few times he healed his fellow Gryffindor’s Quidditch bumps and bruises if he happened to be at the pitch with Jamie, but he always sent them to Madame Pomfrey for broken bones or anything remotely serious.

Jamie would always be carrying injuries if not for his skills. She had an amazing knack for trouble, didn’t seem to care about flying into other people while playing, hated bothering the nurse, and felt like her duelling scrapes were badges of honour. It drove Sirius mad how stubborn she was, how she refused to back down. He knew he was not that much better, but where he would shrug off the majority of insults sent his way, Jamie would become offended on his behalf and launch into a string of jinxes or hexes. If not outright blows.

It was true, at first, they had both found the basic lessons so boring and uninteresting. Being purebloods they had learnt a few things before they were technically supposed to. Jamie because her parents loved and indulged her, Sirius because his parents wanted him to have every possible advantage he could.

They had started amusing themselves by casting small jinxes at their classmates while in lessons, daring each other to try more complex or obvious spells without the teacher noticing. Nothing harmful. Just and ear flick or a cold chill, or more complicated spells that changed the colour of a student’s tie. A favourite target had always been Severus Snape. Mainly because of the way he looked down his hooked nose at them, sneering at Sirius as if he were stupid and had thrown something precious away. As if he was now better than him for being in Slytherin. All four of them took an instant dislike to Severus.

They also liked to target him since he was more difficult to get because he always seemed to notice what they were doing, and had a tendency to retaliate. Because they caught on quickly, it was no fun when people didn’t give them a proper challenge.

Of course, the classroom pranks had to stop as the classmates caught up, and lessons required actual concentration. Classroom pranks ceased, but what happened after lessons were over became the new game,  quickly escalating along with their confidence.

More than once, Remus had to remind them of the rules. Maybe even more than once they listened to him. Sirius had never met anyone with as much magical ability and imagination for pranks as Jamie, and they constantly tried to better each other. But being so skilled in all things put targets on their backs.

Some years were worse than others.

  
  


“What happened this time?” Sirius asked her as they stood in the quiet common room. Lunch had just started so they hoped they would have enough time before the rest of the Gryffindors would be coming in.

Jamie gritted her teeth, shaking her head as he pressed his hand as gently as he could to the rapidly growing bruise on her hip, checking the bone underneath to make sure it wasn’t damaged. She had hitched her skirt up so he could see properly, completely comfortable with him as this was far from the first time. “Tell me Jamie,” he told her more sternly.

“It was just Snape. He hit me with a tripping jinx, and I crashed into the wall,” she replied through gritted teeth. “He caught me with my back turned. I was stupid enough to think he wouldn’t try something on his own”

“He’s such a coward,” Sirius snapped angrily. “If I’d been there he wouldn’t have tried.”

Jamie’s laughter had a bitter tone to it. “You’re probably right. Think a poor weak girl can’t stick up for herself? Well, they can think again. I thought I’d already taught them that lesson,” she said fiercely while Sirius nodded his agreement. She always acted like she had a point to prove. He thought that was probably the reason why she got into more fights than the rest of them.

“I need to get the cream. This is more than a spell alone can manage.” He turned to go to the stairs and froze when he saw Jamie’s dorm mate, Lily, standing there.

Her eyes were fixed on the dark purple bruise staining the top of Jamie’s leg. Jamie, who still had her eyes scrunched up in pain,  didn’t see her.

“What happened?” she asked in a quiet voice causing Jamie to jump and drop her skirt hastily. “Who did that to you?” Her voice was full of concern.

“It’s nothing,” Jamie snapped back going red.

“It was your good old best mate ,Snivellus,” Sirius added with an irritated growl.

“He’s not my friend anymore. Not really. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”

“Of course he bloody meant it! He targets her all the time!” Sirius snapped back, earning a sharp look from Jamie.

“I can handle this,” Jamie hissed at him, quiet enough that only he would hear.

“Well it’s not like you don’t target him either!” Lily pressed on, clearly unaware of their hushed conversation. “He’s told me all about it. And it's not like I’ve not witnessed the fun little games you play! Targeting unsuspecting students!”

“He deserves everything we give him. At least we don’t hex him in the back. The games we play never harmed anyone,” Sirius retorted, getting angry at the fact that Jamie was still not saying anything.

“But humiliated plenty,” Lily scorned. “You’re both as bad as the other. I don’t know why I try sometimes. I really don’t.” He went to retaliate again, to tell her what was happening, what she seemed so blind to. He felt the hand on his shoulder,the trembling squeeze,and tried his best to calm down.

“It’s been a long time since either of us has played pranks on people for fun. The darker world outside of Hogwarts is creeping inside these walls.” Jamie’s voice was calm. “If he is no longer your friend that’s probably for the best, because he’s right there with the worst of them.”

“I know.” Lily’s voice sounded so very sad now. “For a long time I didn’t want to believe it, but it’s difficult to deny his darker leanings. Especially now.” Lily might not want to share exactly what had happened between her and the slimy git but Sirius could tell by the way she was looking at the floor and fidgeting there was more to it. She seemed to snap out of it, her attention coming back to Jamie. “Are you okay? Should I get the healer?”

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine. As soon as Sirius goes and gets the damn cream. And it’s nothing. Honestly.” She shot him a look that made him leave the two of them standing, still staring at each other.

He wasn’t gone for long, but when he came back Lily was sitting over at the table by the window, her books spread across it, writing rapidling with her head down. End of year exams were rapidly approaching.

Jamie was still standing in the same spot Sirius had left her in, but the way she was staring at the back of Lily’s head made him think they’d had more words. He couldn’t tell if they were bad or good. He sent his friend a questioning look, but she simply shook her head.

Sirius growled angrily at Jamie’s sharp intake of breath when the cream started to work. One way or another he was going to put a stop to them constantly targeting his best friend.

 

~~

 

Padfoot sniffed the air and detected no humans around. He turned to the only one of them not transformed, wagging his tail at him happily, and letting him know they were in a safe place.

Remus looked to the sky nervously. The clouds were still quite thick, perhaps tonight the moonlight wouldn’t touch him and he would run with them as a man. It had not happened yet, but was always something they thought about.

Time lost much of its meaning when he was Padfoot. Days, months, years. They didn’t matter. All that mattered was running free with his friends. He ran around the legs of Remus and Prongs playfully, impatient to be off having adventures already. The stag moved its feet and snorted at him muscles twitching in shared anticipation. The rat didn’t move from its position sitting between the stag’s shoulder blades.

It had been a surprise the first time they’d seen Jamie’s animagus form as a stag. But somehow it just felt right. After all, the books said the form taken on was a reflection of the inner self. And to all the Marauders, Jamie was just one of them. One of the guys. They had done this enough times now that Padfoot didn’t even give it a second thought.

Prongs’ head went up sharply as the wind picked up. Padfoot danced about in uncontainable excitement, the clouds were thinning, and soon they would be running.

“I wish you weren’t so bloody happy about this,” Remus muttered, taking off his coat and tucking it into the hollow tree stump. But that was all he was able to say and do before the first beam of moonlight broke through the clouds.

 

~~

 

    As good as he was with healing spells, there was only so much emotional damage a person could take. And  there were only so many times Sirius could swallow his tongue around his poisonous family.

It wasn’t quite the explosion he had expected when he told them he was leaving. Somehow this was the best news he had ever given his mother, her eyes shining with delight as he watched her burn his name from the tapestry. Regulus watched on silently from the top of the stairs before sliding back up to his room.

 

There was only one place he could go. Only one place he even considered going.

The Potter’s house had always felt like a safe haven to him, and for the last few years the weeks he had spent there during the summers were precious fragments of time. The most glorious warm days spent running around the country side on four paws. It was always everything his family home wasn’t. Warm, comfortable, welcoming.

At sixteen he was still unable to apparate so he took the Knight Bus. Thankful that there were not many stops before his own. The rain was pouring down when the bus stopped at the gates to the grand house, causing his shirt to stick to his abused body.He could see some windows still lit up against the dark.

The imposing gates shimmered as he approached and let him pass through without him having to say or do anything other than keep walking.

Jamie was waiting for him at the doorstep as though she had been standing there waiting for him all summer. Her mother was at her side.

As soon as Euphemia looked at his face, spotting his rounded shoulders,  his lost and yet still hopeful eyes, she opened her arms to him. And Sirius just couldn’t hold himself together anymore. To be shown such unconditional acceptance, to be welcomed just like that, it was all too much.

He collapsed onto the gravel, weeping uncontrollably. It was Jamie who wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, lifting him up with a steady hand on his arm and leading him inside, sitting him in her fathers wingback chair by the open fire.

“You’re safe here,” she told him. Her gentle voice like a cooling balm to his nerves. Washing over him and putting him at ease. “You’re with your family now.”

~~

 

“Jamie, you’re staring again.” Remus didn’t even look up from his book as he said those words. Sirius watched on as Jamie looked back down at her dinner for less than a minute before her eyes were wandering over to the Ravenclaw table again. To the spot where Lily Evans was talking to her Potions partner, Reggie Baker.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, pretty sure the answer would be a shake of the head or a muttered grumbling, as it always had been lately. Lily and Jamie had been getting on pretty well as far as Sirius could tell. They shared a dorm, afterall, and Jamie was always talking about Lily.

There were a few occasions where Jamie had even slept  in the boys dorm. Normally the nights they all sat up talking late into the night, when one of them was in the hospital wing, or when Remus was too weak to take care of himself and she couldn’t bare being separated from all of them.

In fifth year, when Lily and Jamie had been as hostile towards each other as it was possible to be without actually coming to blows, Jamie had stayed with them an entire month.

Somehow the dynamic had changed again, and he was struggling to see what had happened. His friend had started moping or going into long silent broods when anyone started talking about Lily. It was a very un-Prongs way to be. Most girls were a complete mystery to him, and he tried to stay the hell away from all that drama whenever possible. There was enough of that shit in his life to worry about already.

“Why is she talking to him?” she finally said after a long enough pause that Sirius had gone back to his dinner. Peter turned fully around in his seat to follow her direction.

“They’ve got a project together, haven’t they?” he said loudly over his shoulder making a few people turn to see what the fuss was about. Most just went back to whatever they were doing when they saw it was just them.

“Fuck sake, Pete, turn around and shut up!” Sirius hissed at him, making him flush and sit back around, lowering his head back to his plate. Although Sirius thought his words would encourage Jamie to continue mocking Pete, or cheer her up, it seemed this time he was very, very wrong. Instead, she stood, shouldered her bag and walked out the hall.

“Sirius, go follow her,” Remus told him, looking over the top of his book. Sirius shrugged,  flicking his hair over his shoulder.

“Why?”

“She wants to talk about it... to you. To only you,” Remus informed him.

“You’re sure about that?”

“When am I ever wrong?” Sirius tried one more dramatic sigh in reply to Remus, his friend smiling back in genuine amusement. If they had been sitting side by side instead of opposite, Sirius would have squeezed his shoulder. He always wanted to break the unseen back-off bubble that Remus projected around himself twenty - four seven.

“Alright, I’ll go talk to her.” He tried to portray with his tone how much he wasn’t interested in doing this, but Remus only snorted and Pete gave him an encouraging smile. He didn’t notice as he stood that Lily was no longer talking to Reggie. Didn’t notice that she wasn’t there at all.

As the Marauders had progressed through school - as their skills had grown, along with their ability to get away with things -  so had their confidence. In each other, in themselves, in their own popularity. They were now over confident sixth years, bursting in the knowledge of their OWLS.

Sirius was considered to be the most confident of all of them. At least on the outside. They all had their flaws they tried desperately to hide, but what made them strong as a unit was they all already knew and accepted those flaws in each other.

As Sirius stepped outside the hall he was suddenly struck with the reality that he had no clue where his friend had gone. He considered calling on his mirror, but realised it was still sitting on his bedside table.

He made his way over to the staircase, thinking the most obvious place was the common room anyway, and if not, he could at least grab his mirror and call; but before he placed a foot on the stairs he heard heated voices coming from the side room used to hold the first years before their sorting.

It didn’t ever occur to him to not listen at the door. That he might be invading something private.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, you know,” Jamie’s voice filtered through the crack in the door. “I know how upset you were when your friendship with Snape turned sour.”

“That wasn’t the same, and you seemed more gleeful of that at the time,” Lily’s voice shot back angrily.

“Reggie is a dick, that’s all. I know at least two other girls he’s stringing along. I just don't want you to make the same mistake.” Jamie’s voice was losing its heat. She sounded hesitant, unsure. Sirius frowned, she was never unsure.

“So now you’re concerned for my feelings? Or are you just jealous that I’m giving him more attention than I give you?” There was a challenge in her tone, something he couldn’t figure out what was going on.

“What? Don’t be ridiculous,” Jamie’s voice held a quiver as she replied, and  Sirius knew she would be playing with the end of her braid. “We’re mates, mates look out for each other, that’s all.”

“Mates? Okay, if you say so. In that case I should tell you... everyone outside of Gryffindor thinks you and Sirius are a thing. The Slytherins have been saying you’ve been with all three of them.”

“You know that’s bullshit.” Jamie’s voice sounded like she desperately wanted Lily to believe her. Sirius was tempted to barge in and demand to know what else she had heard, but before he could Lily spoke up again.

“I do,” she replied quietly. “ I know that you like girls.” Lily’s voice was gentle now, like a soft caress. Sirius finally realised that perhaps he shouldn’t be listening in to this conversation, but equally he couldn’t pull himself away. He’d had his suspicions about Jamie’s preferences already. It had been a knowledge unspoken between all four of them. Something that they all understood and didn’t need to discuss.

“So... what if I do? Are you uncomfortable sharing a room with me?”

Sirius took a step back from the door as Lily crossed in front of it, walking in the direction of Jamie’s voice. Sirius could tell her cheeks were flushed.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Lily informed her. “And you don’t have to worry about me and Reggie, okay? We are just lab partners. He’s barely even a friend.” Sirius took another step back, his heart thundering so loudly in his chest that he was sure they were going to hear him.

    “I’m sorry. I just worry about you, you know. As a friend.” Jamie was still sounding flustered, Lily’s laugh was warm and full of confidence.

       “Just a friend?”

        Sirius’ head whipped around as a group of students walked out of the Great Hall talking loudly. He hadn’t been seen yet and he didn’t want to draw attention to this particular corner. He managed to slide away without being noticed by anyone. Halfway up the stairs he pointed his wand to the slightly ajar door and closed it silently.

 

~~

 

Sirius waited.

He waited for his best friend to tell him what was happening between her and Lily.

Waited for them to finally share with him that they were, perhaps now, a little more than friends.

He didn’t really want to ask, the stubborn streak in him was in full force. Because wasn’t he her very best friend? Didn’t he deserve to be told?

And besides that, there just never seemed to be a right time to ask her about it anyway.

He was pleased at least that the sulking was over. Jamie instead now seemed to be lit up from the inside, her beaming smile as bright as any star. It was a little surprising when Remus told him off for sulking. The cheek.

He was happy. Happy for his friend, happy for his life. Happy over the fact that he now knew  - more than he had ever known anything in his entire life - that these friendships he had forged were strong enough to last several lifetimes.

But still, he waited to be told until he just couldn’t wait any longer.

The four Marauders were sitting in their favourite spot near the lake. The sun was a warm orb in the sky as Sirius lifted his face to bathe in its brilliance. Jamie was talking about the plans for the summer, and what everyone was planning on doing.

Still, she wasn’t telling them about Lily. Her conversation slowed then stopped as a group of students walked past them. Lily’s red hair a contrast to the blonde and dark of her friends.

“I will be mightily upset, you know, if I find out Lily has told her friends about you two, but you continue to keep us in the dark.”

Colour bloomed on Jamie’s face. “How can I share with you guys when I’m not sure myself?” Her eyes never left the group of girls until they were out of sight. “We like each other. I know that at least. Although I think I like her more than she likes me.” She grabbed the base of her long ponytail and began to braid it nervously as she spoke. “I’ve always been able to talk to you about anything, but somehow this feels so fragile. Like one of mum’s impossibly delicate glass ornaments. I’m worried that if I talk about it out loud, if I grasp at it too tightly,  it will just crumble in my hands. I don’t want to mess this up. She’s so special.”

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ve got you,” Pete spoke up first, surprising them all. Jamie smiled at them in turn.

“Perhaps we could be a little more than friends, but I don’t want to make that move in case I’m wrong. I need Lily to take a step across that barrier first.”

Sirius wanted to say he already thought they had crossed that line, but didn’t as it wouldn’t serve any purpose now. Instead, he glanced past Jamie and caught eyes with Remus. There, where soft grey eyes met cold blue, was another barrier two people were afraid to cross.

 

~~

 


End file.
